14K trailer versus 20K trailer?

I’m looking to buy a new trailer to haul my antique tractors to shows and to haul my new tractor to work. I would appreciate yalls thoughts on my choices.
Okay, first choice, trailer big enough to haul 3 tractors at once like a 32’ 20K gooseneck or 2 tractors at once like a 25’ gooseneck.

2nd choice, if 2 tractors then 25’ 4 wheel 14K or 8 wheel 20K?

I have been pricing around and I can buy a 25’ or 30’ dual tandem 20K new for around $6,000
I can buy a new 25’ 14K 4 wheel for around $4,000

It seems like folks want nearly as much for used trailers as new ones cost. I went today and looked at a 2005 32’ tri-axle with mismatched tires that had been used hard and he wanted $4,500 for it, I can buy the same thing brand new for $5,900.

I guess my main question is will a 14K trailer carry two JD’s like a late A and 60 safely or am I going to have to fork out 2G’s more for a 20K?
If I have to go the 20K route should I go ahead and get a 32 footer. Of course then I have to worry about maneuvering and parking and getting in and out of tight places.

Decisions, decisions

When we bought a new trailer we went with the 25 foot 20 K dual tandem for a couple of reasons. We didn't have to worry about overloading it and we were pulling it with a 1 ton dually and the rims would match up in a pinch for spares.
Now that I do less hauling I wish I had a lighter trailer better suited to my 3/4 ton truck.
Stay away from tri axles ! They bind up in tight manuvering. The tandem dual you can twist it right around.

I forgot to mention my tow vehicle is a ¾ ton 99 F-250 superduty 4x4 powerstroke with mods.

Mr frog

It depends on how conservative the designer/manufacturer was and what margins of safety and loads were used to calculate the working load. This information should be available from any reputable trailer manufacturer. Typically, if it was made in the USA/Canada the loads and margins are higher to prevent legal issues later. Trailers made outside of the USA/Canada use lower margins and loads to get the same rating. Ask them for their design information/safety rating, calcualted loads and margins,, if they are worth their salt they will give these numbers to you.

60 weighs around 5300 lb's and the A is right around that so just
the tractors alone are less than 11000 lbs. 25' is plenty long to
handle the two together.

If I'm not mistaken when buying a goose neck trailer the length is
the actual bed but when buying a bumper hitch type isn't it also the
length of the tongue?

An F150 could pull this.

Forgot to add to watch out for the Chinese tires.

Featherlite has been using them and they have had blowouts under
normal driving conditions.

2 tractors weigh around 11,000#’s then the trailer weighs around 4,000#’s so that puts the total weight at around 15,000#’s. That’s why I worry about a 14K trailer. But I guess you got to figure that some of the weight is on the truck. So I’d guess that maybe 1,500# tongue weight so that means roughly 13-14K on the 14K trailer? I guess it has a lot to do with how much weight the truck is carrying?

Every flat bed trailer I have ever bought, both GN and bumper pull are measured by the length of the bed. I guess the proper way to measure is the length of the flat bed plus the length of the dovetail. When I say 30’ I mean a 25+5, and when I say 25’ I mean a 20+5.
Right now dad has a 20’ or 16+4 that I have been using to haul 2 at a time but I have to pack them on way too tight where the tractors are hanging off each end. I also plan to add mounted cultivators and planters and misc. stuff in the future.

The trailer is part of the load,it sets on top of the axles,so that weight would need to be deducted from the trailer capacity.

Heres my .02. I bought a new 14K Big Tex a few years ago. I had a 1993 Dodge D250 Cummins powered. I thought that the extra $2000 for a 20K was not worth it, but looking back, I should have done it. A 10000lb axle has not only twice the tires, but twice the brakes of a 7000 lb axle. You get oil filled hubs, heavier springs and they do tow a lot better. After overloading my 14K one night after an auction, I blew out 3 tires on the trailer on the way home from a 500 mile trip. I also had brake failure from overheating going down a 6%, 6 mile grade.

It may be more up front, but in the end you will be better off, and if you sell it ever, the value would be more.

Mike, assuming you have a CDL then? How much hassle/cost is that?

It's a bit of a hassle. I had to get my CDL a couple years back for work to be able to pull our combines and planters around.

In TN the real hassle is not the test it is finding all the papers that you need to be able to qualify for the test. I would suggest going by the DMV to get a list of the things you need in order to prevent some of that aggrivation. The requirements are more than just the normal class D, which just requires a birth cirtificate and SS card.

The written test was no problem. Because of scheduling and location I used a 3rd party tester for the walk around and driving portion. It was through but not rediculous.

To be leagal pullers should have them unless you can convince the DOT guy that it falls under farm or recreation. If you are over 10,000 combination weight (truck and trailer) and dont fall under the two exceptions above you cant pass a DOT inspection.

I dont know the law in your state about vehicle inspection, but if your state does not normally require one you'll have to get that done on your truck and trailer as well.

No doubt it's all a pain in the butt.

I don't have one. They have recently changed the laws around so I don't know if one is needed or not ? I just run in my state and keep off the hiways for the most part. Hardly go anytwhere anymore either.

Here's the best tip I can give.

Check into all the braking options ! The electric brakes on our tandem dual never were quite enough brakes. I think today there are all kinds of options that work better. With all the traffic out on the roads today get the best brakes you can. Pulling was never a problem,stopping however can get tricky.

Frog, I totally agree with Mike get the bigger trailer with duals. Sounds like you"ve got the pickup to pull it but as the toyota commercial said it isn"t starting a 10,000 lb load it"s stopping it. I pull a 25foot,14K gooseneck with a "99 dodge 1500, plenty of power but I need plenty of stopping distance with a load, John

In my state you can get a "farm plate" if you qualify and I'm not sure of the details. Otherwise, if your combined gross vehicle weight is over 26,000# a CDL is required in any state and a USDOT number for anything over 10,000# CGVW. Not unusual here to have someone with a fifth wheel trailer (especially dually pickups) stopped by a trooper and forced leave it (loaded or not if over 26,000 CGVW) until they find a someone with a CDL to move it. Here, the power unit (pickup in your case) is licensed for the total weight and the fee is $764.00 / year for 26,000# though the DMV. Over that weight, registration is handled by the PUC (Public Utilities Commission) which has reduced fees ($375.00 for 26,000 to 28,000#) and you pay a weight - mile tax but no tax on the fuel.
The CDL isn't that difficult to get - go to DMV and they should have a book for you to study.
I never felt safe stopping with a fifth wheel so I found an 1987 roll back 50,000# truck, 24 foot bed, with 31,000 miles on it that was owned by a city. It's got a Cat diesel and a five speed Allison and I paid $17,000.00 for it. Can't even buy much of a pickup for that.

You have two tractors that have an approximate combined weight of 9500 pound and trailer that weights approximately 5000 pounds. You have now exceeded the recommended capacity of the axels by 500 pounds. Something that many over look is the weight of the trailer when determining what their needs are to transport safely. A 14,000 pound trailer is adequate for one 5000 to 8000 pound tractor or two smaller tractors, any thing more and stopping will become a problem along with service life of the trailer.
In regards to length, I have a 25 foot with a 5 foot beaver tail and can carry my 49 AR, 53 R and 37 BR and have a few inches to spare. With two row crop tractor and one standard tread tractor I use 26 feet of the trailer. The extra 5 feet, over a doesn't seam like much but when parking at shows with limited parking it can become a challenge.
Note: Trailer is 24,000 pound capacity and pulled with an F650 crew cab paired with a Cummings ISB and Allison six speed manual transmission and wish it had more horse power for the hills.
Enjoy the hobby,
Kent

First, you can haul a 60 and an A on a 14k gooseneck. The biggest thing to concern yourself with is the axle and tire ratings, which a 14k should have 2 7k axles. Now it does get a little tricky with some manufacturers - PJ rates trailers at 15,800# but they only have 2 7k axles, the rest of the rating comes from the assumption that you're going to have some tongue weight on the truck and off the trailer axles.

With a gooseneck you should have a 15-20% tongue weight. So assuming a 5,000 lb trailer you can haul this much before exceeding your trailer GAWR of 7,000 lbs x 2.

15% - 11,450# (2460# TW)
20% - 12,500# (3500# TW)
25% - 13,650# (4660# TW)

Realistically, I would feel confident that a well built 14K trailer could hold 13,650#, although I would lean to a larger frame than some of the ones with an 8" channel frame. Of course, your ability to handle and stop that much weight is the problem more than anything else.

From what I've seen a 14k will haul 12k without a problem - I've seen a lot of 1066's weighted to around 12-13k on a 14k gooseneck behind a 3/4 ton pickup. That said I agree that a 20k trailer w/ duals will be more stable than a 14k w/ singles as long as you are disciplined enough to keep 12-14k on the trailer. However, I think you're going to get yourself in trouble when you start putting 16k or more on the trailer. A dually pickup would be better suited to the application than a 3/4 ton. If it were me and I had to chose between a 14k for $4,000 and a 20k for $6,000 I would spend $5,000 and get a really well-built 14k trailer. That way you will have something that you can confidently haul your tractors and still not be in CDL territory.


That said here is the kicker.......

I'm going to assume your truck has a curb weight of at least 7000# and a GCWR of 20,000# - if you do the math 20,000# - 7000#(truck) - 5000#(trailer) = 8000# payload. So before you go any further I suggest you check and see if you can register your truck for a GCWR over 20,000# (in PA you can do it if you have a mechanic sign off on a few things). The best person would be a title agent that deals in heavy trucks.

My truck weighs 8,000, my GCWR is 18,000, so I got 10,000 max trailer weight rating.
Also, if I understand it correctly, that means legally the trailer cannot be rated for more than 10K so even an empty 14K would be illegal so a 20K is out of the question. Apparently to pull a simple little 14K trailer you need an F-450 and even a 650 can't pull a 20K. I know I can easily haul both tractors and the 14K trailer which has a total weight of around 15K plus the 8K truck so GCW of 23K. I ran all over the place to many shows last year through squirrelly back roads and 75 mph interstate runs and she always felt safe and under complete control. I even had to make a few emergency stops and she stopped just as good as the empty truck ( I have the Prodigy P3 controller). It really irritates me that this big and tough of a truck is rated so low, what’s the point in having a “superduty” if you can’t tow any real weight with it, Heck they advertise ½ ton Toyota gassers on TV rated for 10K trailers!